The Sri Lankan Army will share its version of how the country defeated terrorism at a three-day seminar to be held here from May 31.
The armed forces crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009. The LTTE held sway over the north and parts of the east for about three decades.
“Sri Lanka became the first country in the 21st century to defeat terrorism and Sri Lankan Army had a large role to play in this,” Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya told presspersons here. “Since [May] 2009 many countries acknowledged our achievement and were keen to share the knowledge and expertise of Sri Lankan Army,” he added. As many as 54 countries will be invited to attend. Experts from other parts of the world will be invited to share their experience, he added. “Defeating Terrorism — The Sri Lanka experience” will be the theme of the seminar in which Sri Lankan delegates will share their knowledge on counter-terrorism and enumerate the factors that led to the defeat of the LTTE.
Resettlement of the internally-displaced and demining will also feature in the discussions, he said. Asked if a civilian administration would take charge of the north of the country and when the Army would return to the barracks, he said troop deployment would continue for some time. “We have to consolidate and get a guarantee that nothing wrong will happen again. It will take time. Consolidation takes time. [Right now] Army is doing most of the work…I can't give you a real time frame,” he said.
Coinciding with the seminar, the Army has invited Military Attaches posted in New Delhi for a tour of the areas where the main battles were fought. As many as 30 out of the 90 MAs have confirmed their participation in this, said Lieutenant-General Jayasuriya.
